Friends get news of hiker’s death on Mount Rainier

A friend of well-known outdoors writer Karen Sykes said Sunday he received a call from the National Park Service confirming that the body found Saturday on the east side of Mount Rainier is that of Sykes.

Official confirmation of the identify of a body isn’t expected until Monday from the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office, but Don Geyer said he was one of a handful of people who received a call.

Sykes, 70, went missing on Wednesday while she and her boyfriend, Bob Morthorst, were hiking in the Owyhigh Lakes area at Mount Rainier. When the pair encountered snow at about 5,000 feet, he stopped, but she went on, with plans for the two to meet up later.

When Sykes didn’t return, Morthorst hiked down and reported her missing. Rescuers searched on the ground and in the air, and found a body Saturday, off-trail near the eastern branch of Boundary Creek in rough, steep terrain.